Called Off the Wedding, Walked Into My New Life

Kate's eyes reddened at once. "Stacy, this is all my fault. I'll leave right now. Please don't joke about the wedding."

But Felix reached out to stop her, his gaze going cold. "Let her go."

He leaned against the doorframe, his voice pressed down over something hot. "The moment you walk out that door today, don't expect me to come coaxing you back. Come back and apologize within three days, and I can still pretend none of this happened."

I pulled the door open.

Felix spoke again. "Stacy Fox, I'm not going to smooth things over with your parents for you. When they ask, you can explain it yourself."

My steps stopped for half a second.

For three years, my mother had told everyone I'd married well, and my father had carried the cigarettes and liquor the Gilberts sent, his face flushed with pride as he laughed in front of the relatives.

Felix knew I was afraid of letting them down, so every time he could put his finger right on the tender spot.

Kate twisted the knife softly. "Stacy, Uncle and Auntie love Felix so much. Isn't it a little selfish of you, acting like this?"

I turned back and looked at Felix. "Changing the name on the invitation, bringing her to meet your family, letting her have the master bedroom—is that me being selfish too?"

Felix was silent for a moment, then quickly slid back into arrogance. "We'll deal with all that later. Don't put on a show in the doorway. Who's it for?"

I set the key on the shoe cabinet.

Felix finally noticed. His brow twitched, almost imperceptibly. "You're leaving this behind too?"

I said, "You just said the apartment was paid for with your money. And since even the master bedroom has someone new sleeping in it now, it wouldn't be right for me to keep this key."

His face darkened in an instant. "Stacy Fox, do you really have to make it this final?"

I didn't answer. I wheeled my suitcase into the elevator.

Just before the doors closed, Felix's voice chased after me. "Stacy Fox, once you're out that door, don't even think about asking me to give it back!"

The elevator went down, and I dropped the spare access card into the trash bin.

On my phone, a message came from the head of the rescue shelter. "Stacy, a National Geographic documentary team is coming tomorrow to shoot some charity footage. Before you leave, could you help out for one more day? They happen to be hiring a highlands medical consultant, and I think you'd be perfect for it."

I replied with an okay.

The screen had barely gone dark when Kate's feed refreshed.

She was standing at the master bedroom's floor-to-ceiling window, the caption reading, "After all the wandering, I've finally come home to the place that feels safest."

Early the next morning, I took my suitcase to the shelter.

I changed into scrubs, and the familiar smell of disinfectant washed over me.

I was bent over, dimming the heat lamp on the last post-op puppy, when a clamor suddenly rose from the yard.

The shelter head came into the treatment room wiping her hands, her face tight. "Stacy, the documentary team was supposed to be filming, but the people Kate brought cut right in."

My fingers stilled. "Who approved that?"

Rachel Bennett lowered her voice. "The sponsor gave us short notice, said she needs footage for her charitable image. Felix came too. The director of that documentary, Mr. Graves, has a face like thunder. He's got his crew standing off to the side, watching with this cold smile."

I walked out into the yard. Kate stood in front of the kennels in a white dress, the cameras circling around her.

She bent down to pick up a yellow puppy that had just been spayed, and I clamped my hand over the cage door at once. "It's been less than twenty-four hours since surgery. You can't hold it."

Kate looked up at me, her smile all innocence. "Stacy, I just want everyone to see how adorable it is. People will only donate if they fall in love with it."

Felix stood outside the frame, frowning. "Stacy Fox, don't make this ugly."

I stared into his eyes. "Its wound hasn't healed. If something happens, who takes responsibility?"

Kate dropped her gaze, wounded. "Felix, let it go. Stacy's probably still angry with me."

Someone on the livestream crew muttered under their breath, "This vet's so fierce. No wonder people online say this shelter has no standards."